YES cameraman carted off field after getting hit in head with ball during Yankees-Orioles
It was a scary scene in the Bronx on Wednesday night.
It's been all smiles at Yankee Stadium so far this week thanks to the Yankees' performance against the Baltimore Orioles, but Wednesday night brought about a scary situation for everybody present in the Bronx.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, right as New York opened the scoring on the night with a Josh Donaldson solo homer, Orioles rookie Gunnar Henderson accidentally sent a YES cameraman to the hospital with an errant throw.
With a runner on first and one out, Anthony Volpe grounded into a fielder's choice. Second baseman Adam Fraizer fielded the ball and tossed it over to Henderson, who was covering second base. He got the force out as Isiah Kiner-Falefa slid to try and break up the play, but Henderson avoided the slide, side-stepped IKF, and rifled the ball to first in an attempt to turn two.
Unfortunately, the ball sailed on him and hit YES cameraman Pete Stendel directly in the head. Volpe advanced to second base and then scored on Kyle Higashioka's single in the next at-bat.
But before that, the game had to take a pause as the medical staff tended to Stendel and carted him off the field.
Yankee vs Orioles: YES cameraman hit in head with Gunnar Henderson throw
Thankfully, Stendel was able to let the home crowd know he was doing alright as he was taken away. The fans at Yankee Stadium cheered as he gave the peace sign on his way out.
Though the Yankees would extend their lead to 2-0 after Stendel was escorted out of the stadium, they would quickly cough up the lead in the top half of the next frame.
Manager Aaron Boone removed Randy Vasquez, who was throwing a gem, from the game. He brought in Nick Ramirez and Michael King, and the two were tagged for four earned runs on four hits (Ramirez did most of the damage, allowing three straight hits to force Boone to call on King). It definitely didn't help that Jake Bauers made a terrible play on a catchable line drive to left field, either.
Now down 4-2, the Yankees will have to inflict some damage on the Orioles bullpen. It'd sure be nice if they could pull it off for Stendel, who, at the very least, should be rewarded with a victory on a night he was the victim of a frightening incident while on the job.